Ray Takeyh

Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies

Profile picture

Expert Bio

Ray Takeyh is Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His areas of specialization are Iran, U.S. foreign policy, and the modern Middle East.

Takeyh is, most recently, the author of The Last Shah: America, Iran and the Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty. He is the coauthor of The Pragmatic Superpower: Winning the Cold War in the Middle East and Revolution & Aftermath: Forging a New Strategy Toward Iran. He is author of three previous books, Guardians of the Revolution: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs, Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic, and The Origins of the Eisenhower Doctrine: The US, Britain and Nasser’s Egypt, 1952-1957. He has written more than three hundred articles and opinion pieces in many news outlets including Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Foreign Affairs. Takeyh has testified more than twenty times before various Congressional committees.

Prior to joining CFR, he has served as a senior advisor on Iran at the State Department and was a fellow at the Yale University, The Washington Institute of Near East Policy, and the Middle East Center at University of California, Berkeley. Takeyh holds a doctorate in modern history from Oxford University.

affiliations

  • Editorial board, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy
  • Editorial board, Orbis: Journal of World Affairs

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
Clear All
Regions
Topics
Type

Top Stories on CFR

RealEcon

US exports not only reduce deficits, they also bring higher-paying jobs and greater innovation. A tariff-driven trade war will hold back their growth. 

Myanmar

The massive earthquake in Myanmar has exacerbated the country’s existing crises, and will likely worsen instability rather than lead to peace.

United States

Women in the military have been removed from the Department of Defense and Arlington Memorial Cemetery's websites: why this is happening and how it can be reversed.